1915. 
CONCRETE BLOCK CONSTRUCTION. 
Experience in House Building. 
H AVING decided to build a residence of concrete 
blocks in 1906, and losing the barns by fire, we 
decided to build the barn of cement construc¬ 
tion, the basement walls of concrete and the upper 
part hollow concrete blocks. We got a regular block 
machine with iron pallets and different faces and 
parts for making several kinds of blocks, and parts 
of blocks to break joints, and corner blocks, too. As 
our house is large we got a machine to make blocks 
9x12x62 inches, making the wall 12 inches thick. 
Eight inches is thick enough for ordinary building, 
and shorter blocks will do as well or better. We 
made them at home on the farm with common farm 
labor, and also laid them up with the same help 
without a mason, the boss being on the job t<> see 
that it was done as near right as la* knew, with the 
advice of the man doing the carpenter 
work. We never saw any blocks made 
before nor had any experience in build¬ 
ing with them. We built the barn first 
50x90, then the house 48x42, and 56 
with front and back porches. The 
basement of house is made with blocks, 
and first story, but that above is made 
with concrete stucco work on wire lath. 
The house is always dry. We use a 
hot-air furnace and that means a dry 
house sure, but it is dry and cool in 
hot weather, cooler than a frame 
house. Sometimes a driving rain sends 
a little dampness through the joints 
in a few places, but not any worse than 
I have seen with frame bouses. 
It takes practice to make good blocks, 
in mixing material, in tamping and 
carrying the green blocks away from 
the machine to dry. They can usually be turned off 
the pallets the next day after being made, and then 
they must be watered once or twice a day for a few 
weeks to cure them before laying them up. I would 
never try to make wooden molds or plaster molds, 
but buy or rent a standard block machine. 
In mixing one can make a few samples of differ¬ 
ent proportions and see what he thinks is best for 
bis material and his needs. One can use one part 
cement to two or three of sand for the face of block, 
and finish with one to three or four of sand and two 
or three of gravel as he likes. The house and barn 
are giving good satisfaction, and will last well with 
a minimum of repair expenses, less 
danger of fire and lower insurance 
rates. Such buildings are warmer in 
Winter and cooler in Summer. It is 
worth a great deal to have a warm 
barn in Winter for comfort of man and 
stock, so comfortable that men like to 
stay in it too long when it is cold out¬ 
side. 
I have had no experience with solid 
concrete buildings, only the basement 
of solid concrete, and I am inclined to 
think from my experience that blocks 
for the basement are just as good as 
solid walls unless great weight is ex¬ 
pected to be on it. We have filled up 
the hollows in blocks to make them 
solid where timbers are to rest on the 
wall. We plastered right on the walls 
without any furring, and it is stick¬ 
ing well, much better than on the lath 
on ceiling and partitions. The pillars 
on front porch are three feet square, A 
and the wall is (he same as that around 
the house, which does not show in the picture, and it 
is as high as the pillars. The porch floors are made 
of concrete, too. u. t. cox. 
Lawrence Co., Ohio. 
AN ORCHARD THAT IS COMING BACK. 
T horough work needed.— it is difficult 
to write about spraying from the fact that new 
formulas and new ways are constantly ap¬ 
pearing which are such improvements on the old 
methods that anything written today may be anti¬ 
quated tomorrow. However, there is one thing that 
will never become obsolete in orchard practice, and 
that is thoroughness. A thorough job of spraying 
means the difference between success and failure, 
whether the orchard will barely make expenses or 
show a profit. With increased production as bet¬ 
ter methods are learned comes a lowering of prices 
and only those who have stayed right on the job 
i nun start to finish will be able to show a balance 
on the right side of the ledger. 
GOOD SPRAYING.—In combating San Jose 
so,ile, especially where a severe infestation appears, 
T hi. fcC KUKA L» NEW - YOKKKR. 
the dormant spray should be applied as late in the 
Spring as possible, when the bud scales are begin¬ 
ning to expand. This gives opportunity to get the 
solution on the insects which cannot be reached when 
the buds are perfectly dormant. As one single San 
Jose scale is capable of reproducing to several mil¬ 
lion in a single season, the necessity for thorough 
work is apparent. In this 12-year-old orchard of 
Mammoth Black Twig, Winesap and Gano, compris¬ 
ing about 400 trees, there were 65 trees that were 
dead from scale, 15 that had lost their tops and 
were beginning to send up suckers from the trunk 
and forks of the limb, and the remainder of the 
trees badly infested, some of the limbs ashen gray, 
so thick were the insects. This called for heroic 
treatment if we were to make the orchard come 
back. Pruning had been neglected and the orchard 
pastured with horses and cattle for several years. 
PRUNING.—About as much brush was removed 
HOUSE OF CONCRETE BLOCKS. Fig. 160. 
as was left standing on the ground; several of the 
trees were cut back to live wood and a general 
clearing up given the orchard preparatory to giv¬ 
ing it the dormant spray. Commercial lime-sulphur 
was applied at Winter strength and two Summer 
sprayings, which resulted in the orchard producing 
enough apples to just about pay for the expense be¬ 
stowed upon it. After four years of work in this 
orchard it is beginning to come back and at this 
writing, February 19, promises a full crop. Many 
of the trees that were cut back have produced a 
new top and the sucker wood or water sprouts now 
being four years old are beginning to develop fruit 
REJUVENATED INDIANA ORCHARD. Fig. 161 
spurs. The orchard was plowed last Fall and sown 
to rye which will be turned under this Spring, and 
later sown to peas to be hogged off this Fall. 
TESTS WITH SPRAYS.—Several experiments 
have been tried in testing out different spray ma¬ 
terials. We find that the soluble oil is more effective 
in clearing up an orchard than the commercial lime 
sulphur solution, also that the soluble sulphur com¬ 
pound is more effective in controlling scab and 
blotch than lime-sulphur. So far as actual results 
count uot much difference has been noted between 
the dry powdered arsenate of lead and the paste. 
Indiana. s. n. imiuon. 
471 
DEVELOPMENT OF WATER POWER. 
A Trout Brook Goes to Work. 
H AVING recently read an article in your paper 
regarding the development of power on small 
mountain streams, I thought a little reference 
to my plant might be of interest, and perhaps assist 
some of your readers. A small trout brook crossing 
my farm, the source of which is about 1,400 feet 
above its discharge into the Little Hoosick River, 
had for several years attracted my attention as a 
possible source of power, and incidentally a splendid 
irrigating plant. Spring and Fall freshets, together 
with ravines through which it flowed, were barriers, 
however, which prevented storage on the brook. 
Finally I decided to build a reservoir on an open 
space, about 800 feet from the brook, across the lat¬ 
ter of which I built a small dam to divert the water 
into a canal about four feet wide and two to four 
feet deep. Across the mouth of the 
canal, at the dam, were fastened two 
sticks, 6x6, to prevent driftwood enter¬ 
ing the canal at freshet time. Midway 
between the intake and discharge of 
the canal an opening was made so that 
surplus water (after the reservoir was 
filled) might be returned to the brook. 
At the lowest part, and in the bottom 
of the reservoir, was placed a large 
wooden bdx (should have been con¬ 
crete) covered with wire screen, quar¬ 
ter-inch mesh, from which a 10-inch 
cast-iron pipe was buried from two to 
four feet to the point of discharge, 
about 1,700 feet, with about 200 feet 
fall. Unfortunately my valve was 
Placed in the reservoir instead of im¬ 
mediately below it. T did not realize at 
the time that in the Winter the heavy 
ice would prevent its operation where placed. At 
the end of the 10-inch pipe (1,700 feet from reser¬ 
voir) I built a two-story and basement mill, 40x60, 
near this same brook, and in the basement I in¬ 
stalled a three-foot Pelton water-wheel, shafting, 
etc. This runs a sawmill with a 54-inch circular 
saw, a planer, and a feed-grinder. 
OPERATING THE FLOW.—At the discharge 
we apply different size nozzles according to the work 
and power required. With a lever the operator of 
the sawmill can also regulate the flow of water, 
which is quite an item in a dry season. Through a 
four-inch pipe water is taken above the mill for my 
buildings and a range of 20,000 feet of 
greenhouses. In the cellar attached to 
the greenhouses I installed a 12-inch 
Pelton water-wheel and a 60-light dy¬ 
namo which furnishes sufficient power, 
for at no time would we use the full 
capacity. Of course, my vegetable gar¬ 
den and lawns uever suffer from want 
of moisture, and in dry seasons this ir¬ 
rigating feature has been of inestima¬ 
ble value in the care of my Gladiolus 
seed beds and trial grounds. 
PROVIDING ICE.—One important 
feature was overlooked in the installa¬ 
tion of my plant, fire protection. This 
I shall develop in the near future. Fed 
by springs, the water is clear and pure, 
and forms perfect ice, which is stored 
in a house built below the reservoir 
into which the ice is easily slid on 
skids. Not only my own supply, but 
that of the village of Berlin, a mile dis¬ 
tant, is secured and, taking everything 
into consideration, I am, of course, 
quite proud of the development of this little stream. 
To anyone contemplating the development of a small 
stream on similar lines, I would extend an invita¬ 
tion to come and see my plant, for if knowledge 
could not be gained, at least mistakes which I pos¬ 
sibly have made might be eliminated from the plans 
of the visitor Arthur cowkg. 
Rensselaer Co., N. Y. 
O N page 124 a young farmer presented a new 
scheme for a farm manager. He wanted to 
take his own live stock along with him. With¬ 
in two weeks nearly 75 people came asking for this 
man. Since the last Woman and Home Magazine 
number appeared about 150 letters have been re¬ 
ceived asking about things mentioned in that num¬ 
ber. Surely bur people “want to know”—and they 
are told. 
A FEW SPRAYING CONSIDERATIONS. 
I DO not know that anything new developed, the 
past season, unless it is the need of watching 
conditions more closely and not depending upon 
set rules so much. For instance, the Codling moth 
did not behave with any regard for well-established 
rules of procedure, and so missed connection with 
very elaborate preparations for his entertainment, 
and the apples were correspondingly wormy. An¬ 
other feature emphasized by last season’s experience, 
is the need of being ready with a surplus of equip¬ 
ment, and also of ordering spraying materials early 
while the manufacturers can supply it promptly. 
I wish some one would devise some satisfactory 
